United Kingdom

House of CommonsHouse of Lords

House of Lords

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Parliamentary system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Bicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
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Structure

Data on parliamentary sessions, parliamentary committees and parliamentary groups.

Sessions

Number of ordinary sessions of parliament per year
One
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Dates of parliamentary sessions
Dates of parliamentary sessions
Parliament is usually in ordinary session Extraordinary sessions can be held
January x x
February x x
March x x
April x x
May x x
June x x
July x x
August x
September x x
October x x
November x x
December x x
Number of days parliament met in plenary, per year
148 (2021)
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Notes For some parliaments, data can not be presented on an annual basis, for example because parliamentary sessions run from April to March of the following year. In such cases, the period to which the data corresponds is specified here.
Figures are calculated by parliamentary session (e.g. 2012-2013), not by year.

Committees

Number of permanent committees This number does not include sub-committees or joint committees in bicameral parliaments.
6
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Parliamentary groups

Parliamentary groups are recognized in the parliamentary rules “Parliamentary groups” are the primary means by which political parties organize themselves in parliament. They may also be known as “party groups”, “caucuses” or “fractions”. They are different from all-party groups on specific issues, or inter-parliamentary friendship groups.
Yes
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Number of parliamentary groups
12 (2021)
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Not applicable. There is no minimum number of members to form a parliamentary group
Yes
Independent members can jointly form a parliamentary group
Yes
Several parties can jointly form a parliamentary group
Yes
Relevant provisions about parliamentary groups in the parliamentary rules of procedure
The Companion to the Standing Orders provides that ”The Crossbench Group is made up of members not affiliated to any political party. Members belonging to smaller parties may also sit on the Cross Benches.” Elections for hereditary membership of the House are also sometimes based on group (party) membership.